29 September 2010

Ordinances banning public clotheslines are dumb. They are responsible for many a misshapen, stretched Hanes Beefy Tee. Air-drying your clothes saves energy, prolongs garment life, and can be quite a pleasant chore.

Uniform bamboo poles shrink-wrapped.

In Singapore, clothes are hung off bamboo poles. These poles may appear to be plastic pipes to the untrained eye, but closer inspection reveals that they are actually pieces of bamboo wrapped in a crispy, thin film of plastic.

Some securing.

In common housing buildings, they are placed either in hallways outside doors (balanced on iron rods with U-shaped placeholders welded on) or outside windows.

20 September 2010

Garbage collecting kariton in Singapore, looking so neat and refreshing.

In my short car-driving stint, I actively explored ways to incorporate indoor plants into automobile interiors. I had failed on all counts, with results ranging from a small pot spilling its contents onto the seats, to rooting stems in bottles nestled in my cupholders, looking magnificent in the morning and then perishing in the sauna-like environment created by Manila heat.

Some kind of fortune-bringing plant.

I admit that if my means for carrying my stuff around had been a kariton, it never would have crossed my mind to incorporate a sunken potted plant into the wooden bed. Well, perhaps now that I've seen one, things will be different.

16 September 2010

One of the first things I learned in Singapore, is that locals generally despise having their pictures taken by strangers. This was a break from back home, where people jostle their way into the photos.

Grumpy man getting a public haircut, Chinatown.

But they do also, in less "busy" alleys, engage in public hair cutting.